“Tim Tebow” Bill To Allow Home-Schooled Kids To Join Public School Teams [Poll]

Texas State Senator Van Taylor filed the ‘Tim Tebow Bill’ on Friday. Tim Tebow played football for the University of Florida Gators before going on to play for the Denver Broncos and New York Jets. Tim was home-schooled — but a Florida law allowed him to play for his local public school.

Senator Taylor says a law like that in Texas would help more than 350,000 kids who don't have access to these programs by allowing them to participate in activites like athletics, robotics, and debate that are already in operation at nearby public schools. KXAN reports that roughly two-thirds of other states already allow home-schooled students to participate in a wide array of extra-curricular activities at local high schools. In a lot of cases, this requires the students to test at or above their current grades.

Obviously in Texas, as in many other southern states, this will impact high school sports in a major way. The main concern is that this will be used as a loophole in UIL eligibility requirements set up as a way to maintain fairness in a very competitive world. I think that the key is a very comprehensive oversight system that will maintain fairness and allow these kids to experience the joy of working with a robotics team, cheering, crossing the finish line, or running in the game winning touchdown.